Spain May Release More Al Qaeda Suspects

Spain will decide on Friday whether to release eight men accused of being Muslim extremists who were arrested in January for alleged links to al Qaeda, court sources said. A judge released seven others on Thursday and decided one should stay in custody. The 16 men, mainly from Algeria, were seized in dawn raids on several homes in the northeastern region of Catalonia and Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar said the government had broken a “major terrorist network.” Spain’s Interior Minister Angel Acebes said in January that police had discovered chemicals, bomb components and radio transmission equipment at the homes of the men. A High Court judge ordered the release of seven of the men late on Thursday after substances found in their homes — alleged to be raw materials for chemical weapons — turned out to be harmless. Full Story

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